Amazon Has a Rare Chance to Get More Diverse Fast

By the end of the year, Amazon.com Inc. will announce the location of its second headquarters. It’s hard to overstate the local impact of 50,000 new jobs, and Amazon knows it: It’s staging a months-long reality show of a selection process to see which city can offer the best package of financial incentives, real estate, and livability, alongside other requirements.

The search for a second home gives Amazon something else: an unprecedented opportunity to deal with a problem besetting all of big tech—a stunning lack of diversity. And Amazon is one of the bigger sinners. Men make up 73 percent of its professional employees and 78 percent of senior executives and managers, according to data the company reports to the government. Of the 10 people who report directly to Chief Executive Officer Jeff Bezos, all are white, and only one—Beth Galetti, the head of human resources—is a woman. The board of directors is also resisting shareholder pressure to improve gender balance.